Separable fastener locking member



Feb. 23, 1932. SUNDBAQK 1,846,921

SEPARABLEL FASTENER LOCKING MEMBER Filed July 11, 1929 Ei Cf- LT [N VEN TOR.

BY W

' ATTORNEY Patented F t. 23, 1932 UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE A GIDEON SUNIDBACK, OF HEADV'ILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB '10 HOOKLESS IASTENER COMPANY, OF KEADVTILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 01 PENN- SYLVAN IA manna msrnnnn menus 11mm Original application fled August 8, 1828, Serial No. 128,539. Divided and this application fled July 11,

1929. Serial No. 877,862. I

This invention relates to separable fastener lockin members of the t e disclosed in my copen g application erial No. 126,539, filed August 2, 1926, of which this application 5 is a division, and is directed principally to improvements upon the bent wire locking members disclosed in my copending application. Serial No. 735,574, filed September 3,

1924, of which this application is a continuation in part.

The object of the invention is to increase the strength and holding power of bent wire locking members, to reduce their weight and bulk, and to construct such members of less metal and in fewer forming operations than heretofore, with substantial savings in cost.

The locking members disclosed in my application Serial No. 7 35,57 4, filed September 3, 1924, are made of ordinary wire of round or other cross-section cut off to the desired length, bent to U-shape, deformed at the bend to provide locking surfaces, and having the legs formed to clamp the members on the corded stringer. These locking members are uniforml strong and durable in use, are lighter, than previous locking members of equal strength, and. are cheaper to produce because they require fewer forming operations and leave less waste than heretofore- For certain uses, however, bent wire locking members of uniform cross-section have insufiicient material to supply the desired stifiness to hold upon the stringer, and insuflicient material at the bend to permit locking surfaces of the desired configuration to be formed from-the material available. This is particularly true in the case of fasteners applied to womens apparel where the tendency to light weight is pronounced. If such locking members are made strong enough to Withstand continued hard usage their weight becomes objectionable and can be-reduced only by impairing strength and holding power.

The present invention provides a special construction of wire locking members which are formed by die operations from intermediately thickened straight material ready for compression upon the tape. To attach such member to the tape the intermediate thick- 59 ened portion is bent to U-shape and the narrow jaw portions compressed or wrapped around. the corded edge. 'This construction rovides suificie'nt' material at the bend to orm the desired interlocking surfaces and holding power while reducing the size and weight of the locking members and consequently the over-all weight of the fastener.

mem er;

of the locking member Fig. 6 is a side view shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a lan view of a modified form of locking mem er havingoverlapping clampme'i Fig. 8 is a side view of the locking member shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 10'; t

Fig. 10 is a plan view showing another modification of the invention;

Fig. 11 shows the locking members of Fig. 10 mounted on stringers; and

Fig. 12 shows one way of attaching the locking members to the stringers.

In Fig. 1, he stringers 1, which may be of woven tape, have twisted or braided cords Zeither enclosed in the fold of the tape or sewed to opposite sides thereof. A plurality of locking members 3 are mounted in staggered relation on the edges of the stringers and are adapted to be engaged and disengaged by the up and down movement of the slider 4, which may be of any suitable construction.

The locking members 3 are formed from wire blanks cut to the desired length, havin a thickening central portion 5 and enlarge ends 6, as shown in Fig. 2. These blanks are Figs. 3 an 4. When the blank an interlocking sur ac referabl formed by rollin or I relseby u se thece'ntraf rti nfiand ends 6 to t e required size. e portions 5 and 6 provide the necessary thickness of met-v alto withstand the forming and bending op-- erations su ently to'be performed.

The blank 1s next formed between dies The die 0 ration which formstheinterlocking surfg ces on the intermediate thickened portion of the blank preferably occurs before bending the blank to U-shape, but

-may occur after bending if desired. This 0 eration consists of deforming the interme ate thickened portion. to provide pro ections 9 substantiall in the shape of an arrowhead, as shown in ig. 6 e ch projectmn having I 10 on the inner side that is, the side adjacent the corded edge of the stringer, and an inclined guiding surface 11 on the outer side, leading to the interlocking surface, which slidingly gu1de the member into engagement with similar locking members on the opposite -stringer.

The interlocking" ortion is also recessed to form a socket. 112 tween each projection 9 and the corded edge of the stringer, in

which an o posite' locking member may be received and held by the inner inclined interlockin surface 10, as shown in Fig. 1. The shoul ers 8 not only serve as stop surfaces to prevent the corded edge of the stringer from bulging into the socket 12 when clamped upon the stringer, but also limit the depth of reception of the projection 9 of an opposite locking member within the socket.

The thickened central portion 5 of the blank provides enough metal to form the interlockin projection and socket portions described a ve and to permit bending to U- shape without danger of cracking or weakening1 the metal. At the same time the reduced en or jaw portions require less metal than heretofore and enable the total weight of the locking member to reduce without impairing the strength or holding power.

In Figs. 7 and 8 the interlocking portions are the same as in Figs. 5 and 6, but the clamping stringer. In this form of the invention the free ends 13 are elongated and are'preferably reduced in cross-section to not more than half the thickness of the central portion 5 of the blank. "These reduced end portions are 'tached to .the stringer jaws are adapted to be overlapped and wrapped around the corded edge of the then bent around the corded edge of the st r to formtwo substantially right angl e s fint in opposite directions so that they overlap and occupy a space no greater than that occu ied b the arrow-shaped projections 9. hese ocking members mag be at- V by passing e ends or jaws through the fabric behind the corded edge, and then bending and wrapping the jaws around the cord, but another preferred method of mounting 1l2)e described below 1g.

in connection with In Fi s. 9 to 11 the lockin members have interloc g portions shap somewhat like the prcjectlon and socket portions of Figs. 5

and 6, except that one pro ection 9' is larger thanthe opposite pro ection 9. The blank from which this locking member is formed is like that shown in Fig. 5 except that the ,ends are elongated and reduced to substantially half the thickness of the central portion 5 to permit them to be wrapped around the corded edge as in Figs. 7 and 8. The end portions 14 of the jaws instead of bein round, as in the previous forms,'are flattene to the desired depth, the flattening permitting the desired overlapping and increasing the resistance to spreading. The extreme ends 15 of the locking member are turned in and pressed against the corded edge of the tape, thereby preventing the corded edge from bulging'mto the recess or socket portion. Having the jaws of reduced thickness and of the cross-sectional shape illustrated permits a slight bulging out of the corded edge of the tape between the top and bottom halves of the jaws, thus makin the clamping action more secure and less likelihood of longitudinal displacement of the member on the stringer. Having the jaws flattened as illustrated does not increase the dimension of the locking member longitudinallyof the stringer and does not lessen the spacing between the locking members or reduce the flexibility of the fastener. If desired, jaws of the shape shown in Figs. 9 tell may be provided with interlocking portions of other shapes.

Fig. 12 illustrates the preferred manner of attaching the locking members of Figs.

7 to 11 upon the tape. In this construction the locking members are first clamped upon the cord 2. The stringer 16 preferably consists of woven tape folded over, with 'certain warp threads pulled out or omitted .at the fold, leaving only the weft threads 17. The locking members, previously mounted on the cord 2, are then pushed through the weft threads 17 so that they project out of the fabric. The tape is then olded over and the plies stitched together at 18 to form a strong unitary stringer with the parts locked firmly in place.

Among the advantages of this invention may be enumerated the increased strength and holding power resulting from thick'eningthe blank prior to forming and bending. An-

other result from the same structure is in-' creased stiffness in the jaws to aid 1n holding the member on the tape. The straight wire blank is cheaper than s ecially formed blanks generally employed inthe art, and does not require annealing or special care in handling. Having the jaws overlap 1n creases the holdin power on the tape and lessensvany possibllity of the jaws spreading under crosswise stress on the material. When the jaws are flattened increased holding power is obtained without impairing the flexibility of the fastener, and reducin the thickness of the jaws longitudinally o the tape also lessens their tendency to spread and increases their stifiness.

I claim: a

1. A separable fastener locking member comprising a strip of material having an intermediate thickened portion bent to U- shape, said intermediate thickened portion deformed to provide a substantially arrowshaped head.

2. In a separable fastener, a flexible string er, a locking member mounted on said stringer comprising a strip of material bent to U- shape with the bent portion of said. stri which projects from the stringer formed re atively thicker transversely of the stringer than the end portions of said strip which engage the stringer, interlocking recesses inwardly of the bend and projections formed by swaging up the metal from said thickened portion to interlock with the recesses of cooperating fastener elements.

3. A method of forming a separable faS- tener locking member comprising formin a strip of material with a relatively thic central portion and flattened end portions on ppposite sides of the central iprtion, bendmg said strip at said central t ickened portion, and later swaging the material of the thick portion to form interlocking projections and recesses. 4. The method of forming a separable fastener locking member comprising-forming a stri of material with a central relatively thic portion and flattened thinner portions on opposite sides of the central portion said central portion having one flat side bending said strip to U- hape with said iiat side disposed on the. inner side of the bend, and

then forming interlocking projections and recesses from the material 0 said thick portion. adjacent the bend.

Signed at Meadville in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, this 19th day of June, A. D. 1929.

w GIDEON SUNDBACK. 

